Proposed China property ban softened as bill is decried at state Capitol

AUSTIN — More than 100 people, the vast majority Asian American Texans, decried a bill designed to ban Chinese citizens from owning property in the state.

Dozens panned Senate Bill 147 as discriminatory and unconstitutional, while its author touted it as a necessary security measure to protect the state from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. No action was taken on the bill, which has emerged as one of the more controversial proposals during this year’s legislative session.

Its author, Brenham Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, said the proposal enjoys popular support among Texans. But leading up to Thursday’s public hearing, Kolkhorst significantly modified the bill, softening it after Asian American and Pacific Islander advocacy groups, Democratic lawmakers, real estate organizations and banking trade groups expressed concern for its targeting of people based on nationality.

“I reject any notion that this is a racist bill,” Kolkhorst said at the outset of the Senate State Affairs Committee meeting. The powerful committee took up her bill along with a similar one from Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock.

Kolkhorst released a revised version of the bill that would ban citizens, companies and government organizations from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from owning any property in Texas. But it would make exceptions for dual citizens and permanent residents from those countries to own property in the state. Further, it exempts home ownership from its property ban on citizens of those countries — regardless of their status in the United States — as long as its owner registers it as a homestead.

Critics of the bill argue that it comes as Asian American hate continues to be on the rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of its chief opponents at the Capitol, Houston Rep. Gene Wu, told The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday that the bill is a part of the U.S.’s long history of discriminatory acts aimed at Asian Americans. “This legislation says point blank that Asian Americans are a threat to our country,” said Wu, who is Chinese-American.

To support her bill, Kolkhorst cited a two-year ban on foreign purchases of residential property in Canada and USDA figures obtained by the Wall Street Journal indicating that Texas leads the nation in Chinese-owned agricultural land by a wide margin, with more than 150,000 acres owned by China.

HONORS

Southern Arkansas University Tech, East Camden, Arkansas, announces its Chancellor’s List for fall 2022.

Area students include:

Max Callicott of Prescott, Arkansas

Tyneisha Eason of Lewisville, Arkansas

Dalton Gammage of Hope, Arkansas

Andrewmesha Govan of Bradley, Arkansas

Nicholas Karambellas of Ashdown, Arkansas

David Marshall of Texarkana, Arkansas

Are’mon Morrison of Texarkana, Texas

Macaira Patterson of Texarkana, Arkansas

Jordyn Standley of Texarkana, Arkansas

Tristan Wilson of Rosston, Arkansas

Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, announces its Dean’s Honor Roll for fall 2022. Area students include: Rebecca C. Schwartz of Broken Bow, Oklahoma.